DESCRIPTION: This competing continuation application requests support for the continuation of the Institutional National Research Service Award research-training program at Oregon Health Sciences University School of Nursing. The program seeks to continue its preparation of nurse scientists in substantive content, methodological strategies, and ethical foundations of science. Whereas we remain committed to the preparation of nurse scientists for the study of family, we seek to build on the success of the previous and current research training programs by including the study of individuals who constitute families, thereby contributing to systems thinking in order to address the complex processes involved. In addition, it is a goal of this proposed training program to develop nurse scientists to meet the needs of individuals and families experiencing disparity in health and in access to health care, through risk assessment and intervention research. This shift in direction for the training program will be supported by augmentations in the existing course work and requirements, including: conceptual analysis of risk, resilience, and vulnerability; critical review of the literature that bridges individual and family literature to develop systems thinking about phenomena; modification of research methods course to include attention to the conceptualization and measurement of variables that contribute to health disparity, and methods appropriate for the study of individuals and families experiencing health disparities; design and analysis of intervention studies; and, in conjunction with a course on health policy, a course in epidemiology survey or program evaluation methods. Research practica will be required in either risk assessment or intervention research under the guidance of interdisciplinary program faculty. A cadre of nurse scientists, then, will be prepared to conduct programs of research that will embrace individual and family perspectives, encompass risk assessment and intervention, and link findings to health and public policy in order to reduce health disparities.